I am currently completing my ILM Level 3 award in First Line Management and recently had to write an assignment on ?Managing Customer Service? and it is clear that this is one of the most important areas of running a business or organisation but one area that is often neglected
Customer service is an important part of running an organisation for many reasons, the main being aiding retention, gaining new customers, and improving the organisation. This is even more important nowadays as there is more competition, customers are better informed, and customer have higher expectations making them more valuable
It is clear though that there are a lot of companies around who miss out on opportunities for positive publicity and are clearly lacking in regards to their customer service. Research into customer service and specifically the cost of poor customer service suggests that £1 spent on preventing poor customer service will save £1,000 in subsequent lost trade through delivering poor customer service. Businesses need to realise that without customers they are nothing, and that they are not an interruption to work but the reason for it. This seems to get lost on some and at the end of the day it will mean lost business at a time when they should be doing everything they can to increase it.
I?m sure we?ve all received good and bad customer service and the fact is that if I receive good service I will promote that business to 5 other people, but if I receive bad customer service then you can be sure that I will relay that to 25 people, and the fact is that no matter how good your advertising may be it is word of mouth can make or break you.
I enjoy promoting local businesses and if I?ve had a good experience then I am more than happy to promote them on this blog or recommend them to friends so I think I will start writing a few posts on here to reward those who have provided good customer service. Those who have failed miserably can no longer expect support from me (you know who you are). This should not only give good businesses some more exposure but should also help you the customer when deciding on where to spend your money. Of course these are only my views and customer service is something that needs to be constantly monitored and improved, but I know you are all intelligent enough to know this and to use this information as a guide along with other information available to you.
Perfick !
I feel the same. I always promote the places I love (don?t we all!) and I can?t believe how bad is the customer service in some, regardless of the type of business.
For example, we have a ?traditional French bakery? in Ottawa, the only one. It has a great location. Yet, the staff is very rude (and before you ask: no they are NOT French but Canadian!
) and they seem to think customers are just a minor nuisance in their day. Conclusion, only tourists go there, no local!
I generally find the bigger high street chains give better customer service here in Thanet, probably because everyone who works in them has been on a customer service course. It?s a shame, as you?d ordinarily expect the small shops and cafes to be bending over themselves for your business. Maybe the people working in them aren?t the owners, merely the exploited.
That said, the old boot in Boots leaves a lot to be desired.
Customer service training should be in place whether you are a small independant or a large chain. I suppose smaller shops will argue that they can?t afford the training, or to pay for a member of staff to have leave to go training, but as the sums show, this small investment will reap rewards.
Speculate to accumulate and all that?..
Of course there are people who are just naturally helpful and you are lucky if you get them serving you.
The stories I could tell about sales training ? I was lucky to be given good instruction and then take on the role.
I have friends with small businesses and they complain about their customers !
Some easy rules, acknowledge someone entering your store within 10 seconds, a smile and hello, if it someone you know, try to remember the name ?Hello Mrs Jones, won?t keep you long? Also gives a shove to the awkward twit you are presnetly dealing with.
Otherwise beneath the perfectly perfected genuine smile, sing to yourself ?You are so welcome to come and abuse me, will my ticketting be correct or your fat wrist fit my watches, you mean old ******* ****** **** ****** *******?
When in reality you will say ?Mrs Jones, how lovely to see you, did you see the new window display ? I have the perfect exclusive item you will adore, as soon as I saw it I thought of you!?
Yeah, gawdy, tasteless and (rubbing hands together, ridiculously) expensive !!! Kerching.
Customers, who needs them ?